Glass feeder combination front spout cover, burner block and burner assembly



July 4 1961 J. L. HUSS 2 9 0 49 GLASS FEEDER COMBINATION FRONT SPOUTCOVER, BURNE tR BLOCK AND BURNER ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 8,1954 F IGJ a sTaww V I .Hw

INVENTOR JULIUS l HUSS BY Mow/M26? AT TOR NEYS y 1961 J. Huss 2,990,649

GLASS FEEDER COMBINATION FRONT SPOUT COVER, BURNER I BLOCK AND BURNERASSEMBLY Filed June 8, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEIN'TQR JULIUS l HLJSSAT TOR NEYS ports of the Burner blocks.

United States Patent This invention relates generally to'improvements inglass feeder forehearths and more particularly to improvements in thespout section of a well-known type of forehea-rth, one example of whichis shown inU'.S. Patent No. 2,139,911,. issued on December 13,1938, to

K. E. Peiler et al.

A "forehearth of the type referred to has a refractory spoiit providedwith an outlet opening in its bottom at the approximate center thereof.The spout is open at its rear above the level of its bottom for inflowof molten glass from a connected forehearth channel, the glass retainingwall of such sp'out' being generally U-shaped as viewed in plan andarcuately curved at the outer, front end of the forehearth. v

Firin'gofsuch a spout is from burners operatively disposedinrelationto-ports provided through a refractory burner wall resting upon theuppersurface of the glassrletaining spout Wall. The front portion of thisburner wall c'omprises a pair of right and left hand burner blocks, asviewed from the front of the spout section. The adjacent ends of theseblocks meet at the, longitufdinal center line of the spout and theirremote ends terminate at about the transverse center line of the spout,such-Burner blocks being arcuately curv'ed to conform to the euivatureof the front portion of the upstanding glass retaining spout wall onwhich they rest. A refractory cover plate i's'provided to cover thefront portion ofthe spout, including the upper surf-ace of the frontburner Blocks 'on which the outer edge portion of the cover blockrests-and by which it is supported.

ports in the top of the manifolds so that a gaseous fuel mixturesupplied, to the manifolds may pass therefrom through theindividualburner nozzles into the burner Each of the individual bamernozzles-is sealedto the burner block at the outerend of its burner portbysuitable sealing provisions.

The refractory front spout cover may he retained in plane by anoverlying metal top plate secured to face plates which covertheouter'surfaces of the burner blocks, s uolrface plates being aperturedat places to permit the airme -memes re be operatively positioned inrelation to the burner ports.

In the operation of a foreheaith having. a spout section substantiallyas just described, access to the refractory spout may be necessary atrather frequent intervals, as

for the removalt'herefrom of stones or broken clay or'for the removaland replacement of the refractory spout itself. The "spout burner blocksfrequently are in good enough condition to-last in service until anotherspout change will be required but such burner blocks have to be brokenup in order to get the old spout out. when a new'spout has been placedin position and new burner blocks'have been supplied, the work ofaligning the burner nozzles with the b'urnerports, assuringefiecti veseals between the nozzles and the outer ends ofthe Also, J

burner ports and providing leak proof connections be- Patented July 4,196i ice tween the burner nozzle elbow members and the manifolds, istedious and time" consuming. There is space for only one workman whomust work in a hot and dark place under generally poor workingconditions. As are sult, the worker may not do the necessaryinstallation work properly and leakage of the gaseous fuel mixture andbackfiring frequently occur when the gaseous fuel mixture is turned onto the burners.

An object of the present invention is to provide a construction of thefront burner blocks, frontspout cover and associate firing provisions ofsuch acharacter that the installed spout is readily accessible forobservation of the interior thereof and removal therefrom of stones,broken clay, etc., or for removal and replacement thereof, all Withoutbreaking up the front burner blocks or front spout cover or disturbingthe alignment of the individual burner nozzles with their burner portsor the gas tight seals around the burner nozzles at the outer ends ofthe burner ports;

A further object of the invention is to provide a forehearth spoutstructure of the character described in which the front burner blocks,the burner nozzles associated there with and their manifolds and thefront cover blocks are arranged in two cooperative relatively right handand left hand unitary assemblies which can be moved bodily as unitsrelative to each other and to and from their applied positions inassociation with an installed refractory spout; a

In carryingout the above'and' other objects of the invention, therefractory front spout cover may be made toconsist of two relativelyright and left hand parts, each integral with a front burner block ofthe corresponding hand. A rigid holder is provided for each of thesemonolithic combination front cover and burner blocks. This holder alsosupports an appropriately shaped manifold, either of right or left handas the case may be. Burner nozzles for the ports through the burnerblock portions of the combination blocks are carried by elbow pipemembers which are clamped in proper positions on the top of themanifolds to establish communication between the manifolds and theindividual burner nozzles. These nozzles are aligned With their burnerports and are sealed to the outer ends of the burner ports.

Pre-assernbly of the components of each of these units may be effectedat a bench or other convenient work place-away from the place ofintended use and theassembly then can be moved as a unit by a hoist orother suitable means to the position where it is to be used.

Suitable means also are provided, according to the invention, to mountthe co-operat'ive' right hand and left hand assemblies at their placesof use so that they may be swung laterally about vertical pivotal axesrespectively located'at opposite sides of the spout position fromtheirWorking p'osi'tioris'to inactive positions laterally of the spoutposition to permit access to the spout andsubsequently swung about saidvertical pivotal axes back to their working positions. The means forpivotally mounting the assemblies for horizontal swinging movementspreferably are such as to permit each such assembly to be disconnectedtherefrom when lifted bodily, as by a hoist by whichit' may be moved toa work bench or other convenient work place for any necessary repair orfor replacement by a new pre-assembly of like parts, the pivotalconnection between the assembly and its mounting means beingre-es'tablished when the assembly isretu'rned 'to its working position.

other objects 'and advantag'es of the invention will hereinafter bepointed out orwill' become apparent fromthe following description of apractical embodiment thereof as showninthe-accompanying drawings; inwhich: 3 1 FIG. 1- is a planviewof-a forehearth spout structure,

3 including co-operative right hand and left hand assemblies of parts inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the spout structure;

J FIG. 3 is a view like FIG. 1 but showing the movable right and lefthand assemblies of parts in their outwardly swung, inactive positions;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1. v

In the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 3, the numeral indicates a refractory spoutdisposed in a suitably shaped casing 11, FIGS. 2 and 3, heat insulatingmaterial as indicated at 12, FIG. 3, being interposed between such spoutplements, not shown, which depend through a suitable opening in the roofor cover of the spout section in alignment with the outlet opening 13.Thus, the rearward portion of the spout may be covered by a refractoryblock '14, the front edge portion of which is cut away along asemi-circle as indicated at for cooperation with front cover blocks,hereinafter described, to afford clearance of the desired feedingimplements. A transversely disposed top plate 16 overlies this rearspout cover block 14 and may have down turned end portions 16a and 16bengaged by retaining screws :17 and 18 carried by fixed brackets 19 and20 located at opposite sides of the rear portion of the spout.

The front spout cover comprises a left hand refractory block 21 and aright hand refractory block 22, FIGS. 1

and 3, these blocks being otherwise similar and each being of segmentalform with an arcuately curved inner edge 21a or 22a of an angular extentof about 90. The rear refractory block 14 may be cut back at its frontadjacent to its side edges as indicated at 14a and 14b,

respectively, to receive projecting portions 21b and 22b, respectively,on the distal ends of the blocks 21 and 22 when these blocks are intheir closed, active positions as shown in FIG. 1. At this time, theadjacent side edges of these blocks meet as indicated at 115 in FIG. 1,at about the longitudinal center line a of the spout and the arcuatelycurved inner edges 21a and 22a of the blocks together form asemi-circular edge cooperative with the similarly shaped edge portion 15of rear cover block -14 so as to define a circular opening located aboveand in line with the bottom outlet opening 13 of the spout.

Each of the two front spout cover blocks 21 or. 22 is formed integrallywith a front burner block, the left hand burner block being indicated at23 and the right hand burner block at 24. See FIG. 4 which shows themonolithic character of the right hand combination front cover andintegral burner block. Each burner block has an arcuately curved innersurface as indicated at 23a or 24a.

Each monolithic refractory burner block and front cover block unit isdisposed in a metallic holder indicated at 25 for the left hand unit and26 for the right hand unit. Each such holder comprises a face plate,indicated at 27 for the left hand unit and at 28 for the right handunit. Each face plate is provided with an inturned supporting flange atits bottom edge as indicated at 29 for the right hand face plate 28 inFIG. 4. Each of the front burner blocks is undercut for part of itsthickness from its outer surface inward as indicated at 30 for theburner block 24 in FIG. 4 so as to receive the inturned supportingflange of its face plate. This leaves a lower remaining bottom surfaceas indicated at 31 for the 7 burner block 24 in FIG. 4 and the burnerblock rests at this surface on the underlying portion of the uppersurface of the spout wall when the burner block is in its activeposition as shown in FIG. 1. In addition to the parts just described,each holder 25 or 26 includes a top plate, indicated at 32 for the lefthand holder 25 and at 33 for the right hand holder 26. These top platesare secured, as by cap screws 34, to the associated face plates so as tocooperate with the inturned bottom flange on the face plate to retainthe combination refractory front cover block and burner block unit inthe holder for bodily movement therewith when the holder is moved. Inthis connection, the face plate 27 may have inturned extensions at itsside edges as indicated at 27a and 27b, respectively, fitting snuglyagainst the side edges of the partially enclosed burner block. The faceplate 28 may have similar inturned side extensions as indicated at 2811and 28b, respectively. The upper surface of the refractory front spoutcover block 21 or 22 may be formed with a cavity or depression thereinas indicated at 116 for element 22 in FIG. 4. Refractory insulatingcement 117 or the like may be provided to fill such cavity or depressionbefore top plate 32 or 33 is applied.

The left hand holder 25 is provided at its outer side adjacent to therearward end thereof with a rigid attaching lug 25a through which avertical screw-threaded pivot element 35 extends. The lower end of pivotelement 35 is conical as indicated at 35a and fits pivotally in asuitably shaped seat 36 in the top of a fulcrum block 37. The latter isfastened, as by cap screws 38, in place on a bracket 39 which projectsupwardly from a fixed support as from a portion of the spout casing 1 1.The vertical pivot element 35 has a handle 40 secured to its upper endportion by which such pivot element may be manipulated to assure seatingof its lower end in the seat provided in the fulcrum block 37 when theleft hand burner block is resting on the spout wall. A handle which isshown as being a conventional door pull, indicated at 41, is fastened toface plate 27 for convenience for swinging the holder 25 and the partscontained therein forwardly and laterally from its active, closedposition as shown in FIG. 1 to an inactive open position thereof asshown in FIG. 3. A forwardly projecting horizontal plate .118 on theupper part of spout casing 511 may support the swingable unit so as torelieve the pivotal connection of its weight. The burner block 23 isprovided with burner ports as indicated at 42, 43 and 44, respectively.A substantially straight left hand gaseous fuel manifold 45 rests uponan outturned supporting flange 46 on the bottom edge portion of faceplate 27 and is fastened firmly thereto, as by cap screws '47. A similarmanifold 48 is similarly secured in place on an outturned flange 49 onthe bottom edge portion of face plate 28. Each of these manifolds isprovided with an inlet as indicated at 50 in FIG. 4. A pipe elbow,indicated at 51 for manifold 45 and at 52 for manifold 48, is secured toits manifold, as by welding as indicated at 53 in FIG. 4, so as toprovide communication between the manifold inlet and a gaseous fuelsupply line. The gaseous fuel supply line may comprise an arrangement ofsuitable pipe connections and fittings as collectively indicated at '54,including a flexible hose or pipe section as indicated at 54a for theleft hand manifold in FIG. 2.

Each manifold 45 or 48 is provided with a top outlet opening oppositethe outer end of each burner port in the associated burner block. Inthis connection, it is to be noted that the right hand burner block hasports 55, 56 and 57, respectively, corresponding to the burner ports 42,43 and 44, respectively, in the left hand burner block. The top manifoldoutlet opening opposite burner port 56 is shown in FIG. 4, beingdesignated 48a. It will -be understood that other manifold outletopenings are similarly located with respect to their burner ports. Anelbow member 58 is provided for each of such manifold openings. As shownin FIG. 4, this elbow has an some opening 581 inv its bottom overlying.port 4sa'aridfhas' an opening 58b in its rarwardly turned side A I withthe correspondingburner port. A straight burner nozzle 59 has an endportion securedin theopeiiing 58b so that its other end or tip will bedisposed in the outer end of its associated burner portwhen theelbow'member 58 is securedf in place on its supporting manifold. Theelbows 58 are re'leasably held in placeon their manifolds by clampingbars such as those indicated 1 at 60 and 61; respectively, each of theseclamping bars being fastened by affixed stud o2 on the manifold andanut'63 ng e t -thes u twag e Opposite d' $1161 bar to exert downwardpressureon two adjacent elbow members 58. A gasket 58c may be providedbetween the botom of each elbow 58 and the top of its supportingmanifold. A packing sleeve or collar 64 may be provided on each of theburner nozzles to exert pressure on a ring of compressible asbestos orother packing material 65 provided on the nozzle against the portion ofthe wall of the burner block which surrounds the outer end of theassociated burner port.

A vertical post as indicated at 66 in FIGS. 1, 2., 3 and is a standardelement of a feeder forehearth of the kind hereinbefore referred to asthat to which the improvements of the present invention are particularlyapplicable. Therefore the pivotal mounting for the ring hand assembly ofthe illustrative embodiments is such as to make use of this existingpost as a fulcrum member so as to permit lateral swinging of the righthand assembly between the closed, active position of FIG. 1 and theopen, inactive position of FIG. 3 about a vertical axis coincident withthat of post 66. In the absence of such a post or where it may bedispensed with, the pivotal mounting means for the right hand assemblymay be like that shown and described for the left hand assembly insteadof that shown. and which will now be described in detail.

As shown, the right hand pivotal mounting means comprises a bracket 67having an end portion formed as a vertical sleeve 67a fitting slidablyon the post 66 and lowered over the top end of such post and downwardlythereon to a predetermined level where the bracket is fastened byfastening elements *68 to a stationary supporting member 69. An annularstep bearing 70 has a counterbored lower end portion 70a fitting on theupper end portion of the bracket sleeve member 67a and fixed thereto, asby set screws 71. Step bearing 70 has an externally reduced upper endportion 70b. A hinge lug 72 is firmly fastened, as by cap screws '73, tothe right hand holder 26 and has a projecting eye portion 72a fittingrotatably on externally reduced upper end portion 70b of step bearingmember 70 which thus serves as a fulcrum for pivotal horizontal swingingmovements of the right hand assembly of parts. A handle 74, similar toleft hand handle 41, is attached to face plate 28 for convenient use bya workman to effect horizontal swinging movements of the right handassembly between the closed, active position of FIG. 1 and the open,inactive position shown in FIG. 3. In such swinging movements thegreater part of the weight of the right hand assembly will be sustainedby the supporting plate 118, as in the case of the left hand assembly.

The novel structural arrangements described permit ready access to thespout, whether for removal of an old or broken spout and replacementthereof by a new one or simply for observation of conditions within thespout or removal therefrom of stones, pieces of broken clay, or otherforeign matter. The right and left hand assemblies may be left intactduring such an operation until one or more of the parts of one or bothof the bodily movable assemblies requires replacement or repair oradjustment. If only a minor repair or adjustment is required itordinarily may be done by a workman who is standing on a catwalk (notshown) adjacent 6 tothe spout and who can: work in compar'ative comfort.The refractorypa'rts oftliese bodily movable assemblies may be in goodenough condition for continued use through several spout changes. Whenreplacement of the refractory componentof' either assembly." isnecessary or desirable, that assembly may be lifted bodily from itsconnection, as by a hoist (not shown) attached thereto, as by useof ascrew'eye 75or 76011 the holder of that assembly, and removed to" a workbench brother convenient work place. When the work of rep cing". arefractory or other component and re a'ssemblin'g the parts has beenaccomplished, "the new assembly-may be returned to itspivotally attachedposition, tlierstoration of its pivotal connectioii' with its fulcrummember being automatic on lowering of the assembly either to its open,inactive position as shown in FIG. 3 or its closed, active position asshown in FIG. 1. .Of course, a previously prepared replacement assemblymay be provided and returned immediately on removal of the old assembly,thus saving additional time and reducing to a minimum down time of thefeeder because of a spout change.

Many changes in and modifications of the illustrative structure shown inthe drawings and herein described will now be obvious to those skilledin the art and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the detailsthereof.

I claim:

1. In a glass feeder forehearth, the combination with a refractory spouthaving a bottom formed with an outlet for molten glass and having aglass retaining wall at its sides and front, of a pair of relativelyright hand and left hand monolithic refractory units comprisingintegrally formed cooperative front spout burner block and cover blockportions, individual holders for said monolithic refractory units, andmeans for mounting said holders for swinging movements about separatepivotal axes to move said refractory units bodily between activepositions thereof at which their burner block portions rest uponrelatively right hand and left hand front portions of said glassretaining wall and the cover block portions thereof extend rearwardlytherefrom over the front portion of the spout and inactive positionsthereof at which said refractory units are disposed wholly away fromsaid glass retaining wall.

2. The combination specified by claim 1 wherein each of said individualholders comprises a face plate for the monolithic refractory unit to beheld thereby, an inturned supporting flange on the face plate at thebottom edge thereof, said flange underlying the bottom surface of theburner block portion of said monolithic refractory unit from the outersurface of the latter for only part of the thickness of said burnerblock portion between its outer and inner surfaces, and a top platefixed to said face plate so as to extend inwardly in overlying relationto the cover block portion of said refractory unit.

3. The combination specified by claim 1 and, in addition, a gaseous fuelmanifold mounted on each of said holders to extend horizontally alongthe outer surface of the burner block portion of the monolithicrefractory unit held by said holder, said burner block portion havingspaced burner ports extending t-herethrough from the outer surface tothe inner surface thereof, individual burner nozzles for the respectiveburner ports operatively mounted on said manifold in positions to fireinto their respective ports, sealing means between said nozzles and theouter ends of said ports and gaseous fuel supply means operativelyconnected with the manifold and of such a character as to permit saidmanifold and nozzles to move with the associated refractory unit withoutdisturbing the relationships of the nozzles with their respective burnerports or the sealing means therebetween when said holder is moved tomove said refractory unit between its active and inactive positions,respectively.

4. The combination specified by claim 1 wherein the means for mountingsaid holders for swinging movements about separate pivotal axescomprises fixed position fulcrum means respectively located at oppositesides of the front portion of the spout and adjacent thereto, andattaohing means on said holdersengageable with said fulcrum means,respectively, to pivotally connect the holders with their respectivefulcrum means so that said holders are mounted'to swing about verticalaxes respectively located at the opposite sides of the front portion ofthe spout, and, in addition, a horizontal fixed position plate ,at thefront of the spout to take the weight of the holders and the partscarried thereby when said holders are swung about their vertical pivotalaxes from the active positions to the inactive positions of therefractory units carried by the holders.

5. The combination specified by claim 4 wherein the References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,946,083 Lambie Feb. 6,1934 2,115,408 Brosse Apr. 26, 1938 2,139,911 Peiler et a1. Dec. 13,1938 2,623,330 Griflin Dec. 30, 1952

